Not a single passenger flight Why a Boeing is scrapped after just 13 flying hours
A Boeing 787-8 stood unused in hangars for almost ten years. Now, after three flights and 13 flight hours, the Dreamliner is being dismantled. Its components fetch more than the entire aircraft.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A Boeing 787-8 with the registration N947BA only flew around 13 hours in almost ten years and never transported passengers, as it was never used regularly due to problems.
- Several changes of ownership and a conversion into a luxury jet were unable to save its use; instead, the aircraft remained in storage for a long time.
- Due to increased spare parts prices and early design flaws, the almost new aircraft is now being dismantled, as its individual parts are worth more than the entire aircraft.
From luxury airliner to spare parts warehouse in 13 flying hours. This is what the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with the registration number N947BA has achieved. However, the hours were accumulated over a period of almost ten years. And not once were paying passengers on board, as Aerotelegraf reports.
The first buyer was Royal Air Maroc. However, due to assembly errors and excessive weight, the jet remained with Boeing. By then, it had only completed its maiden flight. The next customer was Crystal Luxury Air, a provider of luxury world tours. The 787 was converted for them - it only had 52 seats instead of the 240 to 310 for which the Dreamliner had been developed.
Delivery flights only
The jet flew from the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, to California. But it never took off, even with Crystal Luxury Air. Instead, the aircraft was stored and remained there until 2024. In 2021, an investment holding company acquired the aircraft for 25 million dollars and later sold it to the Bank of Utah. It remained in a hangar with no prospect of taking off with passengers.
Instead, the Boeing 787-8 flew from its undisclosed location in California to Roswell Air Center in New Mexico on March 2. These were its last hours in the air. Among other things, the facility is used to store airliners. It will be the final resting place for the aircraft with the registration number N947BA.
The jet is now a spare parts store for those Dreamliners that are still in service. As the aircraft is practically in new condition, it is very attractive as a supplier for its components, writes "Aerotelegraf". When new, the 787-8 was worth over 200 million dollars. The parts promise sales proceeds of 50 to 56 million, writes the portal "Aviation A2Z".
Spare parts are worth more than the entire aircraft
Because the value of the spare parts has increased in view of the disrupted supply chains, it is now worth dismantling the aircraft and selling off its components.
In addition, as a very early Dreamliner, this jet still had design problems. The aircraft was number 17 and thus belongs to the "terrible teens", as these problem aircraft are called. What's more, many active Dreamliners have passed the 12-year mark and are now due for extensive servicing. This means that one of the most useless airplanes Boeing has ever built still has a purpose.
